Methods and apparatus to share online media impressions data

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus to share online media impression data are disclosed. An example method includes sending a response to a request, the response including an identification of a first cookie used by an audience measurement entity and an indication of a database proprietor, and receiving a mapping of the first cookie to a second cookie used by the database proprietor and demographic information associated with the second cookie by the database proprietor.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser.No. 61/658,233, filed Jun. 11, 2012, to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 61/810,235, filed Apr. 9, 2013, and to AustralianPatent Application Serial No. 2013204865, filed Apr. 12, 2013, theentireties of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates generally to monitoring media and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to determine impressions usingdistributed demographic information.

BACKGROUND

Traditionally, audience measurement entities determine audienceengagement levels for media programming based on registered panelmembers. That is, an audience measurement entity enrolls people whoconsent to being monitored into a panel. The audience measurement entitythen monitors those panel members to determine media programs (e.g.,television programs or radio programs, movies, DVDs, etc.) exposed tothose panel members. In this manner, the audience measurement entity candetermine exposure measures for different media content based on thecollected media measurement data.

Techniques for monitoring user access to Internet resources such as webpages, advertisements and/or other content has evolved significantlyover the years. Some known systems perform such monitoring primarilythrough server logs. In particular, entities serving content on theInternet can use known techniques to log the number of requests receivedfor their content at their server.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example system to generate an audience measuremententity (AME)-to-partner cookie mapping based on a re-direct from the AMEto a partner database proprietor (DP).

FIG. 2 depicts an example messaging flow diagram corresponding to theexample system of FIG. 1 to generate an AME-to-partner cookie mappingbased on a re-direct from the AME to a partner DP.

FIG. 3 depicts another example system to generate an AME-to-partner DP1cookie mapping based on a re-direct from the AME to a partner DP1, andto further send a request to a second partner DP (partner DP2) toidentify a registered user of the partner DP2.

FIG. 4 depicts an example messaging flow diagram corresponding to theexample system of FIG. 3 to generate an AME-to-partner DP1 cookiemapping based on a re-direct from the AME to a partner DP1, and tofurther send a request to a second partner DP (partner DP2) to identifya registered user of the partner DP2.

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to collect distributed demographicinformation from first and second partner database proprietors inconnection with collecting online campaign ratings (OCR) data from thefirst partner DP.

FIG. 5B illustrates an example process of the system of FIG. 1implementing the instructions of FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to collect distributed demographicinformation from first and second partner database proprietors withoutan OCR collection process to collect OCR data from the first partner DP.

FIG. 6B illustrates an example process of the system of FIG. 1implementing the instructions of FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to perform a user-level cookiesynchronization process.

FIG. 7B illustrates an example process of the system of FIG. 1implementing the instructions of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to perform an impression-level cookiesynchronization process.

FIG. 8B illustrates an example process of the system of FIG. 1implementing the instructions of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example browser ofFIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to implement mapping of an AME cookieto partner DP cookies for the browser.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example AME server ofFIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to initiate mapping of an AME cookie topartner DP cookies.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example AME server ofFIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to associate demographics obtained froma partner DP to online activity monitoring information.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example partner DPservers of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to map an AME cookie to apartner DP cookie.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions which may be executed to implement the example beaconinstruction generator of FIG. 1 to generate beacon instructions (e.g.,tags) to be served by a web server (e.g., the web server of FIG. 1).

FIG. 14 is an example processor system that may be used to execute theexample instructions of FIGS. 5A-13 to implement example apparatus andsystems disclosed herein.

Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughoutthe drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the sameor like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Techniques for monitoring user access to Internet resources such as webpages, content, advertisements and/or other media have evolvedsignificantly over the years. At one point in the past, such monitoringwas done primarily through server logs. In particular, entities servingmedia (e.g., content and/or advertisements) on the Internet would logthe number of requests received for their media at their server. BasingInternet usage research on server logs is problematic for severalreasons. For example, server logs can be tampered with either directlyor via zombie programs which repeatedly request media from the server toincrease the server log counts. Secondly, media is sometimes retrievedonce, cached locally and then repeatedly viewed from the local cachewithout involving the server in the repeat viewings. Server logs cannottrack these views of cached media. Thus, server logs are susceptible toboth over-counting and under-counting errors.

The inventions disclosed in Blumenau, U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,637,fundamentally changed the way Internet monitoring is performed andovercame the limitations of the server side log monitoring techniquesdescribed above. For example, Blumenau disclosed a technique whereinInternet media (e.g., content and/or advertisements) to be tracked istagged with beacon instructions. In particular, monitoring instructionsare associated with the HTML of the media to be tracked. When a clientrequests the media, both the media and the beacon instructions aredownloaded to the client. The beacon instructions are, thus, executedwhenever the media is accessed, be it from a server or from a cache.U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,637 is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

The beacon instructions cause monitoring data reflecting informationabout the access to the media to be sent from the client that downloadedthe media to a monitoring entity. Typically, the monitoring entity is anaudience measurement entity that did not provide the media to the clientand who is a trusted third party for providing accurate usage statistics(e.g., The Nielsen Company, LLC). Advantageously, because the beaconinginstructions are associated with the media and executed by the clientbrowser whenever the media is accessed, the monitoring information isprovided to the audience measurement company irrespective of whether theclient is a panelist of the audience measurement company.

It is important, however, to link demographics to the monitoringinformation. To address this issue, the audience measurement companyestablishes a panel of users who have agreed to provide theirdemographic information and to have their Internet browsing activitiesmonitored. When an individual joins the panel, they provide detailedinformation concerning their identity and demographics (e.g., gender,race, income, home location, occupation, etc.) to the audiencemeasurement company. The audience measurement entity sets a cookie onthe panelist computer that enables the audience measurement entity toidentify the panelist whenever the panelist accesses tagged media and,thus, sends monitoring information to the audience measurement entity.

Since most of the clients providing monitoring information from thetagged pages are not panelists and, thus, are unknown to the audiencemeasurement entity, it is necessary to use statistical methods to imputedemographic information based on the data collected for panelists to thelarger population of users providing data for the tagged media. However,panel sizes of audience measurement entities remain small compared tothe general population of users. Thus, a problem is presented as to howto increase panel size while ensuring the demographics data of the panelis accurate.

There are many database proprietors operating on the Internet. Thesedatabase proprietors provide services to large numbers of subscribers.In exchange for the provision of the service, the subscribers registerwith the proprietor. As part of this registration, the subscribersprovide detailed demographic information. Examples of such databaseproprietors include social network providers such as Facebook, Myspace,etc. These database proprietors set cookies on the computers of theirsubscribers to enable the database proprietor to recognize the user whenthey visit their website.

The protocols of the Internet make cookies inaccessible outside of thedomain (e.g., Internet domain, domain name, etc.) on which they wereset. Thus, a cookie set in the amazon.com domain is accessible toservers in the amazon.com domain, but not to servers outside thatdomain. Therefore, although an audience measurement entity might find itadvantageous to access the cookies set by the database proprietors, theyare unable to do so.

In view of the foregoing, an audience measurement company would like toleverage the existing databases of database proprietors to collect moreextensive Internet usage and demographic data. However, the audiencemeasurement entity is faced with several problems in accomplishing thisend. For example, a problem is presented as to how to access the data ofthe database proprietors without compromising the privacy of thesubscribers, the panelists, or the proprietors of the tracked media.Another problem is how to access this data given the technicalrestrictions imposed by the Internet protocols that prevent the audiencemeasurement entity from accessing cookies set by the databaseproprietor. In examples disclosed herein, the beaconing process isextended to encompass partnered database proprietors and to use suchpartners as interim data collectors. For example, the audiencemeasurement entity and/or beacon instructions (e.g., Java, javascript,or any other computer language or script) may re-direct cause a clientbrowser to request logging of an impression by a partner databaseproprietor. In this manner, if the partner database proprietor knows theaudience member corresponding to the client browser, the partnerdatabase proprietor can provide demographic information corresponding tothe audience member. In such examples, the number of re-direct messagesto the partner database proprietor(s) may be numerous as the re-directmessaging occurs each time a client browser renders media havingembedded beacon instructions. Example techniques for re-directing to oneor more partner database proprietors to leverage distributeddemographics in impression collection processes are disclosed inInternational PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/052623, filed on Sep. 21,2011, and entitled “Methods and Apparatus to Determine Impressions UsingDistributed Demographic Information,” which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety. In addition, example techniques forcollecting impressions and leveraging distributed demographics stored atone or more partner database proprietors are disclosed in InternationalPCT Application No. PCT/US2011/065881, filed on Dec. 19, 2011, andentitled “Methods and Apparatus to Determine Media Impressions UsingDistributed Demographic Information,” which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

Example methods, apparatus and/or articles of manufacture disclosedherein collect audience exposure data using cookie mapping techniques inwhich an audience measurement entity (AME) cookie for a particularaudience member is mapped to a partnered database proprietor cookie (apartner cookie) once during the life of the cookies (e.g., while thecookies are valid and/or not deleted or replaced in client machines). Inthis manner, the AME need only re-direct a client browser once (duringthe lifetime of the cookie) to a particular database proprietor todetermine the partner cookie to be mapped to the AME cookie in theclient browser. Once the cookie mapping is complete, the AME can monitormedia exposures to one or more panelist and/or non-panelist audiencemember(s) using the client browser based on the AME cookie, and receivedemographic information for the audience member(s) from the partnerbased on the AME-to-partner cookie mapping. This reduces the number ofre-directs to the database proprietor needed to, for example, only oneduring the life or validity of the AME and partner cookies. By reducingthe number of re-directs, there are fewer interruptions, lessinterference, and/or less background processing to negatively affectperformance of client browsers, thus, improving an overall userexperience for audience members. Network traffic is also reduced,thereby improving the overall efficiency of the networking environmentby reducing network congestion and delay. Moreover, the amount ofprocessing required by the database proprietor is reduced. Further, theamount of data (e.g., the number of impressions) shared with thedatabase proprietor is reduced.

Using the AME-to-partner cookie mappings, the audience measuremententity can request demographic information from the partnered databaseproprietors for partner cookies that are mapped to their AME cookies inthe AME-to-partner cookie mappings. In response, the partnered databaseproprietors provide their logs and demographic information to theaudience measurement entity which then compiles the collected data intostatistical reports accurately identifying the demographics of personsaccessing the tagged media. Because the identification of clients isdone with reference to enormous databases of users far beyond thequantity of persons present in a conventional audience measurementpanel, the data developed from this process is extremely accurate,reliable and detailed. In some examples, by agreeing to participate inconcerted audience measurement efforts, the partnered databaseproprietors are provided with audience demographic and exposureinformation collected by other partnered database proprietors. In thismanner, partnered database proprietors can supplement their own audienceexposure metrics with information provided by other partnered databaseproprietors.

Example methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture disclosed hereincan be used to determine media impressions (e.g., content impressionsand/or advertisement impressions), media exposure (e.g., contentexposure and/or advertisement exposure) using demographic information,which is distributed across different databases (e.g., different websiteowners, service providers, streaming media provider, etc.) on theInternet. Not only do example methods, apparatus, and articles ofmanufacture disclosed herein enable more accurate correlation ofInternet media exposure to demographics, but they also effectivelyextend panel sizes and compositions beyond persons participating in thepanel of an audience measurement entity and/or a ratings entity topersons registered in other Internet databases such as the databases ofsocial media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc. and/or anyother Internet sites such as Yahoo!, Amazon.com, etc. This extensioneffectively leverages the media tagging capabilities of the ratingsentity and the use of databases of non-ratings entities such as socialmedia and/or other websites to create an enormous, demographicallyaccurate panel that results in accurate, reliable measurements ofexposures to Internet media such as content, advertising and/orprogramming.

Traditionally, audience measurement entities (also referred to herein as“ratings entities”) determine demographic reach for media (e.g.,advertising and content programming) based on registered panel members.That is, an audience measurement entity enrolls people that consent tobeing monitored into a panel. During enrollment, the audiencemeasurement entity receives demographic information from the enrollingpeople so that subsequent correlations may be made between mediaexposure (e.g., advertisement/content exposure) to those panelists anddifferent demographic markets. Unlike traditional techniques in whichaudience measurement entities rely solely on their own panel member datato collect demographics-based audience measurement data, examplemethods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture disclosed hereinenable an audience measurement entity to utilize demographic informationwith other entities that operate based on user registration models. Asused herein, a user registration model is a model in which userssubscribe to services of those entities by creating an account andproviding demographic-related information about themselves. Sharing ofdemographic information associated with registered users of databaseproprietors enables an audience measurement entity to extend orsupplement their panel data with substantially reliable demographicsinformation from external sources (e.g., database proprietors), thusextending the coverage, accuracy, and/or completeness of theirdemographics-based audience measurements. Such access also enables theaudience measurement entity to monitor persons who would not otherwisehave joined an audience measurement panel but who has shared theirdemographics with a database proprietor. Any entity having a databaseidentifying demographics of a set of individuals may cooperate with theaudience measurement entity. Such entities may be referred to as“database proprietors” and include entities such as Facebook, Google,Yahoo!, MSN, Twitter, Apple iTunes, Experian, etc.

Example methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture disclosedherein may be implemented by an audience measurement entity (e.g., anyentity interested in measuring or tracking audience exposures toadvertisements, content, and/or any other media) in cooperation with anynumber of database proprietors such as online web services providers todevelop online media exposure metrics. Such database proprietors/onlineweb services providers may be social network sites (e.g., Facebook,Twitter, MySpace, etc.), multi-service sites (e.g., Yahoo!, Google,Experian, etc.), online retailer sites (e.g., Amazon.com, Buy.com,etc.), and/or any other web site(s) that maintain user registrationrecords.

To increase the likelihood that measured media exposure is accuratelyattributed to the correct demographics, example methods, apparatus,and/or articles of manufacture disclosed herein use demographicinformation located in the audience measurement entity's records anddemographic information located at one or more database proprietors(e.g., web service providers) that maintain records or profiles of usershaving accounts therewith. In this manner, example methods, apparatus,and/or articles of manufacture disclosed herein may be used tosupplement demographic information maintained by a ratings entity (e.g.,an audience measurement company such as The Nielsen Company ofSchaumburg, Illinois, United States of America) that collects mediaexposure measurements and/or demographics) with demographic informationfrom one or more different database proprietors (e.g., web serviceproviders).

The use of demographic information from disparate data sources (e.g.,high-quality demographic information from the panel(s) of an audiencemeasurement entity and/or registered user data of web service providers)results in improved reporting effectiveness of metrics for both onlineand offline advertising campaigns. Example techniques disclosed hereinuse online registration data to identify demographics of users and useserver impression counts, tagging (also referred to as beaconing),and/or other techniques to track quantities of impressions attributableto those users. Online web service providers such as social networkingsites (e.g., Facebook) and multi-service providers (e.g., Yahoo!,Google, Experian, etc.) (collectively and individually referred toherein as database proprietors) maintain detailed demographicinformation (e.g., age, gender, geographic location, race, income level,education level, religion, etc.) collected via user registrationprocesses. An impression corresponds to a home or individual having beenexposed to the corresponding media (e.g., content and/or advertisement).Thus, an impression represents a home or an individual having beenexposed to an advertisement or content or group of advertisements orcontent. In Internet advertising, a quantity of impressions orimpression count is the total number of times an advertisement oradvertisement campaign has been accessed by a web population (e.g.,number of times access may be decreased by, for example, pop-up blockersand/or increased by, for example, retrieval from local cache memory).

Example methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture disclosedherein also enable reporting TV and online ratings (e.g., using grossrating points (GRPs)) in a side-by-side manner. For instance, techniquesdisclosed herein enable advertisers to report quantities of uniquepeople or users that are reached individually and/or collectively by TVand/or online advertisements.

Example methods, apparatus, and/or articles of manufacture disclosedherein also collect impressions mapped to demographics data at variouslocations on the Internet. For example, an audience measurement entitycollects such impression data for its panel and enlists one or moreonline demographics proprietors to collect impression data for theirsubscribers. By combining this collected impression data, the audiencemeasurement entity can then generate GRP metrics for differentadvertisement campaigns. These GRP metrics can be correlated orotherwise associated with particular demographic segments and/or marketsthat were reached.

Example methods disclosed herein include sending a first request to anaudience measurement entity, and sending a second request to cause adatabase proprietor to send to the audience measurement entity a cookiemapping of an audience measurement entity cookie to a databaseproprietor cookie corresponding to a client. Some example methodsfurther include storing the database proprietor cookie. In someexamples, sending the first request to the audience measurement entityis in response to executing beacon instructions in a web page. In someexamples, the second request is further to cause the database proprietorto send to the audience measurement entity a demographic characteristicassociated with the client.

Some example methods further include sending a third request to theaudience measurement entity, and sending a fourth request to cause asecond database proprietor to send to the audience measurement entity asecond cookie mapping of the audience measurement entity cookie to asecond database proprietor cookie. In some such examples, the secondrequest is to cause the database proprietor to send the cookie mappingto the audience measurement entity asynchronously. Some example methodsfurther include sending a third request to the audience measuremententity, the third request including the cookie mapping.

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a communications interfaceand a web browser. The web browser is to send a first request to anaudience measurement entity via the communications interface, and send asecond request via the communications interface to cause a databaseproprietor to send to the audience measurement entity a cookie mappingof an audience measurement entity cookie to a database proprietor cookiecorresponding to a client. In some examples, the web browser is to sendthe audience measurement entity cookie in the first request. In someexample apparatus, the web browser is to send the first request to theaudience measurement entity in response to executing beacon instructionsin a web page.

In some example apparatus, the second request is further to cause thedatabase proprietor to send to the audience measurement entity ademographic characteristic associated with the client. In some examples,the web browser is to send a third request to the audience measuremententity, and send a fourth request to a second database proprietor tocause the second database proprietor to send to the audience measuremententity a second cookie mapping of the audience measurement entity cookieto a second database proprietor cookie. In some examples, the secondrequest is to cause the database proprietor to send the cookie mappingto the audience measurement entity asynchronously. In some examples, theweb browser is to send a third request to the audience measuremententity, the third request including the cookie mapping.

Example methods disclosed herein include sending a response to arequest, the response including an identification of a first cookie usedby an audience measurement entity and an indication of a partnerdatabase proprietor, and receiving a mapping of the first cookie to asecond cookie used by the partner database proprietor and demographicinformation associated with the second cookie by the partner databaseproprietor. In some example methods, the mapping and the demographicinformation are received in an asynchronous communication from thepartner database proprietor. In some examples, the response comprises are-direct message, the re-direct message to cause a client device tosend a request to the partner database proprietor.

In some example methods, the mapping is received at a first time and thedemographic information is received at a second time after the firsttime. Some example methods further include selecting the databaseproprietor from a list of database proprietors based on a web site fromwhich the beacon request originated. In some examples, selecting thedatabase proprietor includes determining a quality of demographicinformation provided by the database proprietor for an expecteddemographic group associated with the web site. Some example methodsfurther include determining whether the beacon request includes thefirst cookie and, when the beacon request does not include the firstcookie, generating the first cookie.

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a re-director to send aresponse to a request, the response including an identification of afirst cookie used by an audience measurement entity and an indication ofa partner database proprietor; and a communication interface to receivea mapping of the first cookie to a second cookie used by the partnerdatabase proprietor and demographic information associated with thesecond cookie by the partner database proprietor. In some exampleapparatus, the communication interface is to receive the mapping and thedemographic information in an asynchronous communication from thepartner database proprietor.

In some examples, the response includes a re-direct message, there-direct message to cause a client device to send a request to thepartner database proprietor. In some examples, the communicationinterface is to receive the mapping at a first time and receive thedemographic information at a second time after the first time. Someexample apparatus further include a partner selector to select thedatabase proprietor from a list of database proprietors based on a website from which the request originated. In some examples, the partnerselector is to select the database proprietor comprises determining aquality of demographic information provided by the database proprietorfor an expected demographic group associated with the web site. Someexample apparatus further include a cookie generator, the re-director todetermine whether the request includes the first cookie and, when therequest does not include the first cookie, the cookie generator is togenerate the first cookie.

Example methods disclosed herein include receiving a first request froma client device, the first request comprising an audience measuremententity cookie identifier, and determining a cookie mapping of theaudience measurement entity cookie to a database proprietor cookieassociated with the client. Some example methods further include sendinga re-direct message to cause the client to send the cookie mapping tothe audience measurement entity. In some such examples, the re-directmessage includes a database proprietor cookie identifier, the audiencemeasurement entity cookie identifier, and an indication of associationbetween the database proprietor cookie identifier and the audiencemeasurement entity cookie identifier.

Some example methods further include sending a message to the audiencemeasurement entity, the message comprising the cookie mapping. In somesuch examples, the message further includes a second cookie mappingbetween a second audience measurement entity cookie identifier for asecond client device and a second database proprietor cookie associatedwith the second client device.

Example methods disclosed herein include receiving a first request froma client device, the first request comprising an audience measuremententity cookie identifier, and providing a cookie mapping to an audiencemeasurement entity associated with the cookie, the cookie mappingcomprising an association between a database proprietor cookie and theaudience measurement cookie associated with the client. In someexamples, providing the cookie mapping includes sending a re-directmessage to cause the client to send the cookie mapping to the audiencemeasurement entity. In some such examples, the re-direct messageincludes a database proprietor cookie identifier, the audiencemeasurement entity cookie identifier, and an indication of associationbetween the database proprietor cookie identifier and the audiencemeasurement entity cookie identifier.

In some example methods, providing the cookie mapping includes sending amessage to the audience measurement entity, the message comprising thecookie mapping. In some such examples, the message further includes asecond cookie mapping between a second audience measurement entitycookie identifier for a second client device and a second databaseproprietor cookie associated with the second client device.

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a communications interface toreceive a first request from a client device, the first requestcomprising an audience measurement entity cookie identifier; and acookie mapper to determine a cookie mapping of the audience measuremententity cookie to a database proprietor cookie associated with theclient. In some example apparatus, the communications interface is toprovide the cookie mapping to an audience measurement entity associatedwith the cookie, the cookie mapping comprising an association between adatabase proprietor cookie and the audience measurement cookieassociated with the client.

In some examples, the communications interface is to provide the cookiemapping by sending a re-direct message to cause the client to send thecookie mapping to the audience measurement entity. In some suchexamples, the re-direct message includes a database proprietor cookieidentifier, the audience measurement entity cookie identifier, and anindication of association between the database proprietor cookieidentifier and the audience measurement entity cookie identifier. Insome example apparatus, the communications interface is to provide thecookie mapping by sending a message to the audience measurement entity,the message comprising the cookie mapping. In some such examples, themessage further comprises a second cookie mapping between a secondaudience measurement entity cookie identifier for a second client deviceand a second database proprietor cookie associated with the secondclient device.

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a communications interface toreceive a first request from a client device, the first requestcomprising an audience measurement entity cookie identifier, and toprovide a message to an audience measurement entity associated with thecookie, the message including a cookie mapping the cookie mappingcomprising an association between a database proprietor cookie and theaudience measurement cookie associated with the client; and a processorto execute instructions, the instructions to cause the processor togenerate the message.

Example methods disclosed herein include providing instructions to beincluded in a web site, the instructions to cause a client, uponexecution of the instructions, to initiate a process including: sendinga first request to an audience measurement entity; and sending a secondrequest to cause a database proprietor to send to the audiencemeasurement entity a cookie mapping of an audience measurement entitycookie to a database proprietor cookie corresponding to the client. Someexample methods further include receiving information associated withthe web site and generating the instructions based on the information.In some examples, the process further includes receiving a re-directmessage from the audience measurement entity, the re-direct messagecomprising an identifier of the audience measurement cookie.

Example apparatus disclosed herein include a communications interfaceand a processor to generate instructions to be included in a web siteand to cause the communications interface to provide the instructions toa web server associated with the web site, the instructions to cause aclient, upon execution of the instructions, to initiate a processcomprising: sending a first request to an audience measurement entity;and sending a second request to cause a database proprietor to send tothe audience measurement entity a cookie mapping of an audiencemeasurement entity cookie to a database proprietor cookie correspondingto the client. In some examples, the communications interface is toreceive information associated with the web site, the processor togenerate the instructions based on the information. In some exampleapparatus, the process further comprises receiving a re-direct messagefrom the audience measurement entity, the re-direct message comprisingan identifier of the audience measurement cookie.

FIG. 1 depicts an example system 100 to generate an audience measuremententity (AME)-to-partner cookie mapping based on a re-direct from the AME102 to a partner database proprietor (DP) 104. FIG. 2 depicts an examplemessaging flow diagram 200 corresponding to the example system 100 ofFIG. 1 to generate an AME-to-partner cookie mapping based on a re-directfrom the AME 102 to a partner DP 104.

In the example of FIG. 1, a web server 106 provides access to one ormore web sites. The example system 100 determines an AME-to-partnercookie mapping for web browsers that request access to the web sitesserved by the web server 106 (e.g., an example web browser 110). Whilean example web browser 110 is shown for illustration, the example system100 of FIG. 1 may duplicate and/or repeat the illustrated process ofFIG. 1 for the web browser 110 and/or other web browsers. The exampleweb browser 110 of FIG. 1 is a particular instance of a web browsercomputer application executing on a particular computing device (e.g., apersonal computer, a mobile device, such as the processing platform 1400of FIG. 14). However, an example implementation of the example system100 of FIG. 1 will typically involve many such browsers.

An example web page available from the example web server 106 of FIG. 1is tagged with beacon instructions. In some examples, the AME 102provides the tag or beacon instructions to the web server 106 to beincluded in web sites or elements or web sites (e.g., media,advertisements, and/or other elements of web sites) served by the webserver 106. The provided beacon instructions may allow for and/orrequire modification by the web server based on the specific page thatis tagged and/or based on any arguments and/or other variables presenton the web page.

When the example browser 110 requests the web page from the web server106 (e.g., arrow (1) of FIG. 1), the example web server 106 returns thepage content with beacon instructions (e.g., arrow (2) of FIG. 1). Theexample beacon instruction of FIG. 1 is provided by the AME 102 and/ormodified from an instruction provided by the AME 102 to the web server106, and includes a URL 112 that points to an AME server 114 andspecifies, among other things, a media presentation and/or exposureresulting from providing the requested page from the web server 106, andan indication (e.g., the bolded text in the URL 112) of a web server orpublisher (e.g., the web server 106) that provided the beaconinstruction (e.g., arrow (3) of FIG. 1). In some examples, the webserver 106 is controlled by the partner DP 104 or another databaseproprietor. In some such examples, the web server 106 includes anidentifier or other indication of the partner DP 104 in the URL 112. Ifthe browser 110 has previously stored a cookie corresponding to the AME102 (e.g., an AME cookie) (and the cookie has not expired), the examplebrowser 110 provides the AME cookie with the beacon request).

The example AME server 114 includes a beacon request re-director 120, acookie generator 122, a partner selector 124, a beacon instructiongenerator 126, and a communication interface 128. When the AME server114 receives the beacon request from the browser 110, the example beaconrequest re-director 120 determines whether the beacon request includesan AME cookie. If the beacon request does not include an AME cookie, theexample cookie generator 122 creates an AME cookie for the browser 110.If the beacon request includes an AME cookie, the example beacon requestre-director 120 determines whether the AME cookie is associated with(e.g., mapped to) a DP cookie value for a DP (e.g., partner DP 104). Ifthere is a DP cookie, the example AME server 114 stores the beacon inassociation with the browser 110. The AME server 114 may or may notrespond to the beacon request. In the illustrated example, the AMEserver 114 responds to the beacon request with something not intended toaffect display of the tagged web page or advertisement (e.g., with atransparent 1×1 pixel image or other requested media such as aplaceholder). In some examples, the beacon request does not elicit aresponse.

If the AME server 114 of the illustrated example created an AME cookiefor the browser 110, or if there is no DP cookie value for the browser110 associated with (e.g., mapped to) an existing AME cookie (e.g., thetagged web page or tagged ad is not from a DP server), the examplebeacon request re-director 120 adds an AME cookie to a URL parameter 116of a response to the beacon request. The example beacon requestre-director 120 sends a re-direct response (e.g., an HTTP “302 Found”re-direct message) to the browser 110 in response to the beacon request(e.g., arrow (4) of FIG. 1). The example URL parameter 116 of FIG. 1includes an address of a partner DP server 108 (e.g., the bolded andunderlined text in URL 116 of FIG. 1) and an identifier or value of theAME cookie to be mapped to a cookie of the partner DP 104 (e.g., thebolded and not underlined text). The example URL parameter 116 furtherincludes an address of the partner DP server 108. The example partnerselector 124 selects the partner DP server to which the re-directmessage is to be directed. For example, the partner selector 124 mayselect one or more of multiple partner DPs (e.g., from a list ofcooperating partner DPs) based on, for example, the expecteddemographics of the media served by the web server 106 (e.g., the taggedmedia). In some other examples, the partner selector 124 selects adefault partner DP and one or more backup partner DPs.

The example beacon instruction generator 126 of FIG. 1 receivesinformation associated with the example web server 106 and/or web sitesto be served by the web server 106. The information may include anaddress and/or URL range of the web server 106 and/or media. Based onthe information, the example beacon instruction generator 126 generatesbeacon instructions to be used by the example web server 106 to tagmedia served by the web server 106. In some other examples, the beaconinstruction generator 126 provides generic instructions to the webserver 106 that may be modified by the web server 106 based on the mediabeing served.

The example communication interface 128 communicatively couples theexample AME server 114 to the example browser 110 (e.g., via a networksuch as the Internet). The example communication interface 128 includesa combination of hardware and software and/or firmware to transmit andreceive communications, such as the beacon requests and re-directresponses. In some examples, the communication interface 128 includesload balancing features for dividing large numbers of communicationsbetween multiple AME servers 114.

The example browser 110 receives the re-direct response to the beaconrequest and makes a request to the partner DP server 108 based on (e.g.,using) the URL 116 (e.g., arrow (5) of FIG. 1). If the browser 110 has acookie for the domain of the partner DP 104, the example browser 110provides the cookie with the request. The example partner DP server 108of FIG. 1 includes a cookie mapper 130 and a communications interface132. The partner DP server 108 determines whether a cookie is providedby the browser 110. If the browser 110 provides a cookie with therequest, the example partner DP server 108 (e.g., via the cookie mapper130) recognizes the cookie and maps the partner DP cookie to the AMEcookie identified in the URL 116 (e.g., stores an association betweenthe partner DP cookie and the AME cookie). The example partner DP server108 sends a message to the example AME server 114 that indicates amapping between the AME cookie and the partner DP cookie for the browser110 (e.g., arrow (6) of FIG. 1). The example message includes a URL 118that provides the mapping (e.g., the bolded text).

The example cookie mapper 130 may additionally or alternatively beimplemented in the AME servers 114. As described below, in someexamples, the AME server performs mapping between AME cookies andpartner DP cookies based on AME cookies, partner DP user identifiersand/or partner DP cookies associated with the browser 110.

The example communication interface 312 communicatively couples theexample partner DP server 108 to the example browser 110 (e.g., via anetwork such as the Internet). The example communication interface 132includes a combination of hardware and software and/or firmware totransmit and receive communications, such as the beacon re-directs,cookie mappings, and demographic information. In some examples, thecommunication interface 132 includes load balancing features fordividing large numbers of communications between multiple partner DPservers 108.

In the example of FIG. 1, the mapping URL 118 further includesdemographic information associated with the browser (e.g., demographicinformation for a user of the browser) that is known to the partner DP104. For example, a user of the browser 110 may have provided thedemographic information to the partner DP 104 in exchange for the use ofa service provided by the partner DP 104. In some examples, the mappingURL 118 further includes a timestamp of the mapping and/or a timestampof another event leading to the mapping to facilitate mapping of the AMEcookie and/or the partner DP cookie to the impression data. In someother examples, the AME server 114 stores the timestamps derived fromHTTP messages transmitted and received during the mapping process. Insome examples, the AME cookie is unique such that the timestamps are notnecessary for matching the AME cookie and/or the partner DP cookie toimpressions data.

The example AME server 114 of FIG. 1 stores the mapping between the AMEcookie and the partner DP cookie. The example AME server 114 of FIG. 1further stores demographic information for the browser 110 received fromthe partner DP (if any). For subsequent beacon requests received fromthe browser 110 for the same AME cookie, the example AME server 114stores the beacon request (and associated page view and/or exposureinformation) and does not re-direct the browser 110 thereby reducingtraffic to the DP and also reducing data (e.g., impression counts)provided to the DP).

FIG. 3 depicts another example system 300 to generate an AME-to-firstpartner DP cookie mapping based on a re-direct from the AME to a partnerDP1, and to further send a request to a second partner DP (partner DP2)to identify a registered user of the partner DP2. FIG. 4 depicts anexample messaging flow diagram corresponding to the example system ofFIG. 3 to generate an AME-to-partner DP1 cookie mapping based on are-direct from the AME to a partner DP1, and to further send a requestto a second partner DP (partner DP2) to identify a registered user ofthe partner DP2. The example system 300 of FIG. 3 includes the AME 102,the first partner DP 104, the web server 106, the first partner DPserver(s) 108, the example browser 110, and the AME server(s) 114 ofFIG. 1. The example system 300 of FIG. 3 further includes a secondpartner DP 302 that includes one or more second partner DP server(s)304.

In a manner similar to arrows (1) and (2) of FIG. 1, the example browser110 requests a web page from the first web server 106 and receives themedia (e.g., a web page, an advertisement) with beacon instructions. Therequest to the web server 106 can be for any media (e.g., a web page, apart of a web page such as an advertisement) that is tagged. The webpage itself can be tagged and/or an advertisement or other portionwithin the page can be tagged. The example beacon instruction includes aURL 306 specifying the web server, publisher, and/or website proprietorfrom which the beacon instruction originated (e.g., the bold font). In amanner similar to arrow (3) of FIG. 1, the example browser 110, uponreceiving the beacon instruction, makes a beacon request to the exampleAME server 114. If the browser 110 has previously stored a cookiecorresponding to the AME 102 (and the cookie has not expired), theexample browser 110 provides the AME cookie with the beacon request). Inthe examples of FIGS. 1 and 3, the AME server 114 need not determinewhether the AME cookie is expired because the browser 110 does not send(e.g., deletes) an expired AME cookie (or any expired cookies).

When the AME server 114 receives the beacon request from the browser110, the example AME server 114 determines whether the beacon requestincludes an AME cookie. If the beacon request does not include an AMEcookie, the example AME server 114 creates an AME cookie for the browser110. The AME cookie expires after a time period, which may be set in theAME cookie, may be set by the browser 110, and/or may be a universalupper limit on the lifetimes of cookies. When the AME cookie expires,the example browser 110 discards the AME cookie (e.g., deletes fromstorage). The next beacon request from the browser 110 does not includean AME cookie, so the AME server 114 treats the browser 110 as unknownand supplies a new AME cookie. If the beacon request includes an AMEcookie, the example AME server 114 determines whether the AME cookie isassociated with (e.g., mapped to) a DP cookie value for the specified DPin the URL 112 (e.g., partner DP 104). If there is a DP cookie, theexample AME server 114 stores the beacon in association with the browser110.

If the AME server 114 created an AME cookie for the browser 110, or ifthere is no DP cookie value for the browser 110 associated with (e.g.,mapped to) an existing AME cookie, the example AME server 114 adds anAME cookie to a URL parameter 308 of a re-direct response to the beaconrequest. The example AME server 114 then sends a re-direct response(e.g., an HTTP “302 Found” re-direct message) to the browser 110 inresponse to the beacon request (e.g., in a manner similar to arrow (4)of FIG. 1). The example URL parameter 308 of FIG. 3 includes an addressof the first partner DP server 108 (e.g., the bolded and not underlinedtext) and an identifier or value of the AME cookie to be mapped to acookie of the first partner DP 104 (e.g., the bolded and underlinedtext). If the browser 110 has previously stored a cookie correspondingto the domain of the first partner DP 104, the example browser 110includes the first partner DP cookie with the request to the firstpartner DP server 108.

The example first partner DP server 108 determines whether the requestincludes a first DP cookie. If the request includes a first partner DPcookie, the example first partner DP server 108 sends a message to theAME server 114 including a URL 310. The URL 310 includes a mapping ofthe first partner DP cookie to the AME cookie (e.g., the bolded text).In some examples, the first partner DP server 108 stores the firstpartner DP cookie for later mapping and transmission to the AME server114 (e.g., as a batch). At periodic or aperiodic intervals, the firstpartner DP server 108 sends multiple messages including the URLs (e.g.,the URL 310) that indicate the respective mappings of first partner DPcookies to AME cookies.

In addition to or as an alternative to mapping the AME cookie to apartner DP cookie for the first partner DP 104 (e.g., a partner DP fromwhich the browser requested the web page), the example system 300 mapsthe AME cookie for the browser 110 to a partner DP cookie for the secondpartner DP 302. The example second partner DP 302 may have additional oralternative information about the user of the browser 110 than the firstpartner DP 104. In some examples, the first partner DP 104 may have noinformation associated with the browser 110, while the second partner DP302 has useful demographic or other information for the AME 102.

In some examples, the system 300 maps the AME cookie to the secondpartner DP cookie to enable the second partner DP 302 to log impressionsfor a media (e.g., advertisement) campaign. The example second partnerDP 302 provides impression information that is tracked via the secondpartner DP cookie to the example AME 102, along with a mapping of thesecond partner DP cookie to the example AME cookie for the browser 110.In some examples, the second partner DP 302 further provides demographicinformation associated with the impressions.

To map the AME cookie for the browser 110 to the second partner DPcookie, the example AME server 114 sends a re-direct response to thebeacon request that includes a URL 312 to the second partner DP 302(e.g., to the second partner DP server 304). For example, the taggedmedia may include multiple beacons to enable the AME 102 to re-directthe browser 110 to multiple partner DPs. Additionally or alternatively,the tagged media only issues one beacon request and the AME server 114may respond with multiple re-direct messages. Additionally oralternatively, each DP (e.g., the first partner DP 104, the secondpartner DP 304, etc.) may respond to a request caused by a re-directionby returning a re-direction to another DP. In examples where the AMEserver 114 sends multiple re-directs, the example URL 312 of FIG. 3 issimilar to the URL 308, except that the URL 310 specifies the address ofthe second partner DP server(s) 304 instead of the address of the firstpartner DP server(s) 108.

The example URL 310 of the illustrated example includes the AME cookievalue. The example browser 110 receives the re-direct response and sendsa request to the example second partner DP server 304. If the browser110 has a cookie for the second partner DP server 304, the browser 110includes the cookie in the request. The example second partner DP server304 determines whether the request from the browser 110 includes acookie. If the request includes a cookie, the example second partner DPserver 304 reads a value from the cookie that identifies the browser 110or a user associated with the browser (e.g., uniquely identifies theuser).

Unlike the example first partner DP 104, the example second partner DP302 of the illustrated example of FIG. 3 provides the AME cookie tosecond partner DP cookie mapping at intervals instead of immediatelyupon generation of the mapping. For example, the second partner DP 302stores the mapping between the second partner DP cookies and the mappedAME cookies for later transmission to the AME server 114 (e.g., as abatch). At periodic or aperiodic intervals, the second partner DP server304 send one or more multiple messages including the respective mappingsof second partner DP cookies to the AME cookies. The example secondpartner DP servers 304 may send a set of multiple mappings via onemessage in one or more data file (e.g., an array or other datastructure). Additionally or alternatively, the second partner DP servers304 may send multiple messages (e.g., dummy HTTP requests) in which eachmessage includes a mapping (e.g., a URL containing the mappinginformation). If the example second partner DP server 304 recognizes theuser (e.g., via the user identifier in the cookie), the example secondpartner DP server 304 sends a mapping message or other acknowledgementmessage to the example AME server 114 (e.g., a 200 OK HTTP responsemessage).

The examples of FIG. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B are shown in connectionwith operations that may be performed using machine readableinstructions executed by one or more servers or computers in the examplesystems 100, 300 of FIGS. 1 and 3.

In the examples of FIGS. 5A, 6A, 7A, and 8A, the operations described asbeing performed by the AME may be implemented by, for example, the AMEserver(s) 114 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B and the operationsdescribed as being performed by a partner DP may be performed by, forexample, the partner DP servers 108, 304 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B,and/or 8B. In the example of FIG. 5A, a first database proprietor (DP1)has agreed to provide cookie-level data and a second database proprietor(DP2) has refused to provide cookie-level data but agreed to providesummarized data representing aggregations of its cookie-level data inbuckets or categories (e.g., men, ages 30-40).

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions 500 that may be executed to collect distributed demographicinformation from first and second partner database proprietors. FIG. 5Billustrates an example process of the system 100 of FIG. 1 implementingthe instructions 500 of FIG. 5A.

At block 510, when a browser accesses media (e.g., arrow (1) of FIG.5B), beacon instructions included in and/or associated with the media(e.g., arrow (2) of FIG. 5B) cause the browser to register an impressionby sending a beacon request to the AME (e.g., arrow (3) of FIG. 5B). Atoperations in process block 512, the AME collects online activity datafor the browser. For example, the AME receives a beacon request from abrowser (block 512 a), and collects and/or stores impression datacontained in or otherwise associated with the beacon request (block 512b). The data associated with the beacon request may include an AMEcookie associated with the browser and/or may identify media thattriggered the beacon request. The AME processes the collected impressiondata based on the corresponding AME cookie received from the browser to,for example, correlate web page views and media exposures (block 512 c).

At block 514, the AME determines which partner DP(s) the browser is tobe re-directed. The example AME may select partner DP1, partner DP2,and/or one or more additional partner DPs. For example, the AME mayselect the partner DP1 based on an expected or estimated demographiccomposition of a tagged web site when a quality of demographicinformation for the expected or estimated demographic composition ishigher for the partner DP1 than for other partner DPs. In some otherexamples, the AME may select multiple (e.g., all available) partner DPs(e.g., DP1 and DP2). Based on the result of block 514, the example AMEsends a re-direct response to the client browser (e.g., arrow (4) ofFIG. 5B) to cause the client browser to send a re-direct request to thepartner DP1 (e.g., arrow (5) of FIG. 5B, initiating blocks 502 a-502 c)and/or to partner DP2 (e.g., initiating blocks 516 a-516 d).

In the illustrated example, operations in process block 502 are executedby the partner DP1, instead of the AME, to collect impression data basedon beacon requests received from a web browser on a client computer. Forexample, after accessing tagged media, the client browser sends a beaconrequest to the AME and is re-directed by the AME to one or both of thepartner DP1 and/or the partner DP2 (block 514). Assuming, for purposesof discussion, that the partner DP1 receives a message from a clientbrowser based on the re-direction (e.g., block 502 a), the partner DP1accesses the tag information (e.g., media information, publisherinformation, a timestamp, etc.) from the message received from theclient to thereby collect and/or store impression data from the browser(e.g., block 502 b). The partner DP1 processes the tag information toassociate the tag information with partner DP1 cookie identifiers and/orAME cookie identifiers for the user exposed to the tagged media (block502 c). Thus, the example operations of block 502 enable the partner DP1to collect impression information from panelist and/or non-panelistusers that access tagged media. The collection of impression informationby the partner DP1 may be done in addition to or as an alternative tocollection of impression information by the AME.

At block 504, the partner DP1 compresses the raw impression data (e.g.,media information, cookie identifiers, timestamp, etc.) collected by thepartner DP1 to send to the AME (e.g., arrow (6) of FIG. 5B). Theimpression data provided by the partner DP1 to the AME includes mappingsbetween the AME cookie identifiers (e.g., identifiers received via thetag information) and the partner DP1 cookie identifiers (e.g.,identifiers of the users that are known to the partner DP1 and, forexample, stored by the client device). FIG. 5B illustrates an exampletable 524 including a timestamp, impression information (e.g., a mediaidentifier), and an association between a partner DP1 user identifierand an AME cookie identifier. The example partner DP1 sends the table524 to the example AME server in a message corresponding to arrow (6) ofFIG. 5B. The partner DP1 cookie identifier may be anonymized in theimpression data provided to the AME for privacy. The example mappinginformation enables the AME to correlate impression data among multiplepartner DPs (e.g., DP1, DP2, etc.). Example blocks 502 and/or 504 ofFIG. 5A iterate and/or continuously execute to repeatedly collectimpression data and transfer the data to the AME.

At operations in process block 506, the partner DP1 generates userdemographic files at the cookie level (block 506 a). For example, thepartner DP1 may generate a file including partner DP cookie identifiersto be mapped to AME cookies, and further including demographicinformation for the users respectively identified by the partner DPcookies. For example, the partner DP1 includes DP cookie identifiers ofusers, and the demographic information associated with the users, fromwhom DP cookies were received in association with a tag re-directmessage (e.g., during the preceding reporting period). The cookie-leveldemographic files are compressed and transferred to the AME (e.g.,periodically, aperiodically, in response to a request, at designatedtimes, etc.) (e.g., block 506 b, arrow (7) of FIG. 5B). An example table526 is illustrated in FIG. 5B and includes demographic informationassociated with partner DP1 cookie identifiers. The demographic data maybe limited to users for whom cookie mapping occurred or may cover alarger set of the database proprietor's cookies.

At operations referred to by reference numeral 508, the AME mergesand/or aggregates the impression data and the demographic data from thepartner DP1 (block 508 a). For example, the AME may associate thedemographic information corresponding to the individual partner DPcookies with the impression data (e.g., impression data received inblock 504 from the partner DP1, impression data received from otherpartner DPs, and/or other impression data collected by the AME)corresponding to the individual partner DP cookies. The example AMEsummarizes the findings of the partner DP1 (e.g., by grouping the datainto demographic groups and/or buckets) (block 508 b). The partner DPdemographic and impression information, and/or a summarization thereofmay then be fed into a calibration engine for adjustment (e.g.,calibration) based on known data (e.g., AME panelist data 520) and/orgeneration of media impression reports (e.g., online campaign ratings).

At operations in process block 516, upon receiving a request resultingfrom a re-direct response by the AME (block 516 a), a second partner DP2(e.g., server 304 of FIG. 3) collects and/or stores activity informationcorresponding to a cookie known to the second partner DP2 (e.g., secondpartner DP 302) for the browser (block 516 b). The example partner DP2collects tag information (e.g., impression data) in a manner similar topartner DP1 as described above with reference to the operations of block502. The example partner DP2 processes the impression data based on thepartner DP2 cookies (block 516 c). The partner DP2 may performprocessing in block 516 c in a manner similar to the processingperformed by the AME in block 512 c). However, instead of compressingthe data, the example second partner DP server 304 periodicallysummarizes the tag information and sends the tag information to the OCRcalibration engine 518 (block 516 d). For example, summarization of thedata may include grouping impression information and/or demographicinformation into larger demographic groups rather than providingimpression and/or demographic information for individual users and/orindividual cookies. The example OCR calibration engine 518 furtherreceives AME panel factors 520 (e.g., weights to be applied to theimpression information based on characteristics of a representative AMEpanel). The example OCR calibration engine 518 generates OCR reports 522based on the AME cookie to partner DP cookie mapping, partner DPdemographics, partner DP activity measurements (e.g., impression datacollection), and/or AME activity measurements (e.g., AME panelist and/ornon-panelist impression collection). The example instructions 500 mayinclude any number of partner DPs performing blocks 502 and/or 504and/or may include any number of partner DPs performing block 516.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions 600 that may be executed to collect distributed demographicinformation from first and second partner database proprietors withoutcollecting impression data at the first partner DP. FIG. 6B illustratesan example process of the system 100 of FIG. 1 implementing theinstructions 600 of FIG. 6A. The example instructions 600 include blocks506-522 of FIG. 5A (e.g., arrows (1)-(4) of FIG. 6B). Unlike theinstructions 500 of FIG. 5A, the example instructions 600 cause the AMEto collect impression information and frees the partner DP1 from thetask of collecting impression information.

The example instructions 600 of FIG. 6A include instructions referred toby reference numeral 602, which cause the AME to re-direct the browserto a subdomain of the partner DP1 domain (e.g., a server of the AME ofFIG. 1 operating under a subdomain of the partner DP1 domain such as anAME server 604, rather than to a server operated by DP1). An examplemanner to use a subdomain of the partner DP1 domain is described in U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/239,005, filed Sep. 21, 2011, which isincorporated by reference in its entirety. The example AME server 604receives the tag re-direct from the browser at the partner DP1 subdomainaddress (block 602 a) (arrow (5) of FIG. 6B). Because it operates underthe partner DP1 subdomain, the example AME can directly receive thepartner DP1 cookie from browsers. The partner DP1 cookie is merged ormapped to the AME cookie by the AME (e.g., by retrieving the AME cookiefrom the payload in the re-direct request) (block 602 b). Thus, in FIG.6A, the partner DP1 is relieved of responsibility for collecting andreporting impression or exposure data. The data collected by the AME viathe AME server in the DP1 subdomain may be used by the same or differentAME server at block 508 to merge the impression data with demographicdata transmitted at block 506. The example AME server 604 stores and/orsends the mapping information to another AME server 114 (e.g., arrow (6)of FIG. 6B).

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions 700 that may be executed to perform a user-level cookiesynchronization process. FIG. 7B illustrates an example process of thesystem 100 of FIG. 1 implementing the instructions 700 of FIG. 7A. Auser-level cookie synchronization refers to synchronizing an AME cookieassociated with a user/device with a partner DP cookie associated withthe same user/device. The example instructions 700 include blocks 510,512, and 516-522 of FIG. 5A.

During a collection process 702, media of the partner DP1 site is taggedto allow user cookie IDs to be mapped to AME cookies (block 702 a). Forexample, when a registered user of the partner DP1 site accesses thepartner DP1 site (e.g., by accessing a tagged login page) (arrow (1) ofFIG. 7B), the tag associated with the partner DP1 site (arrow (2) ofFIG. 7B) causes the browser to send a beacon request to the AMEincluding an AME cookie (if available) and a user identifier (e.g., analphanumeric code or value) of the user that is also known to thepartner DP1 (block 702 b). For example, the user identifier may becarried in the payload of the beacon request. To maintain privacy of theuser, the example user identifier may be arbitrarily defined by theexample partner DP1 and/or may be changed for the same user for eachmapping of an AME cookie to a partner DP1 cookie. Moreover, the useridentifier is mapped to the DP1 cookie but is not itself the DP1 cookie.The example AME stores an association between the user identifier andthe received AME cookie. If there is no received AME cookie, the exampleAME stores a new AME cookie at the browser and records an associationbetween the new AME cookie and the user identifier. In some examples inwhich the partner DP1 provides a consistent user identifier for a user,the AME associates multiple AME cookies and the impression datacorresponding to the multiple AME cookies based on the AME cookies beingmapped to a same partner DP1 cookie.

Separately from the mapping process 702, the example browser 110accesses media (e.g., from the media server) at block 510 (arrow (4) ofFIG. 7B). As described above, the example AME collects and storesimpression information received from the browser via the beacon request(e.g., block 512, arrows (5) and (6) of FIG. 7B).

During a demographics process 704, the partner DP1 generates adaily/weekly partner DP1 demographic table (e.g., table 708 of FIG. 7B)containing user IDs (e.g., the user IDs sent via beacon requests to theAME) and key demographic segments (block 704 a). The example partner DP1compresses and/or transfers the demographic file to the AME (e.g., block704 b, arrow (7) of FIG. 7B). Because the partner DP1 is aware of theassociation between its users and the user IDs provided to the AME, theexample partner DP1 can match the user IDs to the demographicinformation of the corresponding users. In the illustrated example, thepartner DP1 anonymizes the data to comply with privacy requirements. Themappings between the user (e.g., partner DP1) IDs and the AME cookies(e.g., as determined by the AME from the data provided by block 702) andthe partner DP1 demographic tables (e.g., the demographic file providedby the partner DP1) may be used to create a mapping file between AMEcookies and partner DP1 cookies. The cookie mapping and/or the mappingbetween the user IDs and the AME cookies are subsequently used toassociate audience demographics corresponding to online mediaimpressions and/or to perform, for example, online campaign and/orexposure calculations and reporting. In the illustrated example, the AMEapplies profile corrections to correct or adjust any demographic datadeemed to be inaccurate.

During a reporting process 706, the partner DP1 demographic tables(e.g., received from process block 704) are matched to AME collectiontables (e.g., tables of impression information collected by the AME inprocess block 512) (block 706 a) for summarization and reporting (block706 b). For example, the AME matches the demographic data correspondingto partner DP1 cookies (e.g., received from process block 704 of FIG. 7Aand/or arrow (7) of FIG. 7B) to activity monitoring data using thepartner DP1 cookie to AME cookie mappings (e.g., received and/ordetermined from process block 702 of FIG. 7A and/or arrow (3) of FIG.7B). In this manner, demographic data is joined with impression databased on AME cookie IDs and/or user identifiers provided by the DP1 toassociate demographic data with activity data. The demographic andactivity data may then be fed into a calibration engine for generationof reports reflecting exposure to various demographic groups.

The example instructions 700 of FIG. 7A do not cause the browser tore-direct to the DP1 servers. Instead, the cookie mapping between thepartner DP1 cookie (and/or the partner DP1 user identifier) and the AMEcookie enables the impression data collected by the AME to be mapped todemographic information provided by the partner DP1. As a result, thenumber of re-directions is reduced relative to the systems of FIGS.5A-5B, 6A-6B, and 8A-8B and, thus, network traffic is reduced. Further,the reduced re-direction of the browser results in an improvedexperience for the user because the user experiences fewer delaysassociated with re-direct messages.

FIG. 8A is a flow diagram representative of example machine readableinstructions 800 that may be executed to perform an impression-levelcookie synchronization process. FIG. 8B illustrates an example processof the system 100 of FIG. 1 implementing the instructions 800 of FIG.8A. An impression-level cookie synchronization refers to synchronizingan AME cookie associated with an impression with a partner DP cookiealso associated with that same impression. The example instructions 600include blocks 510-522 of FIG. 5A, which implements at least arrows(1)-(4) of FIG. 8B.

During a collection process 802, the partner DP1 receives a re-directfrom a client browser (e.g., block 802 a of FIG. 8A, arrow (5) of FIG.8B). The re-direct includes an AME cookie as a parameter (e.g., in thepayload of the request) to be transmitted to the partner DP1. Thepartner DP1 receives the re-directed request from the client browser andautomatically returns a response containing a mapping between the AMEcookie ID (provided by the AME via the re-direct) and the partner DP1cookie ID (received from the client browser when present) (block 802 b,arrow (6) of FIG. 8B). In some examples, the response is sent to theclient browser, which forwards the data to the AME. In other examples, aresponse is sent directly (e.g., omitting the browser) to the AME (e.g.,via an asynchronous communication) from the partner DP1 to avoidadditional messages involving the client browser that can reduce theuser experience. The example cookie mapping during collection process802 results in rapid collection of demographic information (e.g.,collection that approaches real-time), enabling advertisers to morequickly identify discrepancies between advertising goals and advertisingresults and/or to more quickly adjust placement and/or service ofadvertisements in order to reach the desired demographic composition.

For example, if an ad publisher intends to place ads on web sites A andB to achieve 10,000 impressions per day with men, ages 30-40 but,instead, the data collection by the process of FIG. 8A shows that website A is producing 6,000 impressions for men, ages 30-40, and web siteA is producing mostly female impressions, the ad publisher can increasethe ad placement on web site B and decrease the ad placement on web siteA within the time period associated with the demographic goal (e.g., aseven day period to meet a daily goal, an hour period to meet an hourlygoal, etc.) to achieve its demographic impression goals. This switch inad placements may potentially be done in real time to achieve thedesired advertising goals in a current ad campaign. In the past, thedemographic results were not available until after the ad campaign wascompleted, thereby resulting in missed goals.

The partner DP1 periodically (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly, biweekly,monthly, etc.) or aperiodically (e.g., with the mapping information)provides a user table (e.g., table 810 of FIG. 8B) or other datastructure to the AME containing partner DP1 cookie identifiers and keydemographic segments (block 804 a, arrow (6) and/or arrow (7) of FIG.8B). The cookie identifiers provided in the user table correspond to thecookie identifiers mapped to the AME identifiers in process block 802.In the illustrated example, the data is made anonymous (e.g., personallyidentifying information is removed) to comply with privacy requirements.In the illustrated example, the AME applies profile corrections tocorrect or adjust any demographic data deemed to be inaccurate.

During a reporting process 806, the example AME uses the mappingreceived from block 802 to match partner DP1 demographic tables (e.g.,demographic data from block 804) to AME collection tables (e.g., onlineactivity data from block 512) (block 806 a) for summarization andreporting (block 806 b). For example, summarization of the data mayinclude grouping impression information and/or demographic informationinto larger demographic groups rather than providing impression and/ordemographic information for individual users and/or individual cookies.In this manner, demographic data is joined to impression data based onpartner DP1 cookie IDs.

In operations within process block 808, the example AME provides the OCRreports 522 of FIG. 8A to the media publisher and/or web server (e.g.,arrow (8) to the web server 106 of FIG. 8B). In the example of FIG. 8A,the publisher compares the OCR reports to demographic goals (block 808a). Based on the comparison, the example publisher adjusts the placementof the media (e.g., shifts the placement of the media among web sites)to achieve the desired goals. Thus, block 808 provides a feedbackmechanism to enable advertisers to identify discrepancies betweenadvertising goals and advertising results and/or to more quickly adjustplacement and/or service of advertisements in order to reach the desireddemographic composition.

While example instructions 500-800 are disclosed above with reference toFIGS. 5A-8B, any of the instructions 500-800 and/or blocks of FIGS.5A-8B may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/orimplemented in any other way to achieve various advantages such as thosedescribed with respect to FIGS. 5A-8B.

While an example manner of implementing the systems 100, 300 areillustrated in FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B, one or more of theelements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B,and/or 8B may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminatedand/or implemented in any other way. Further, the example web server106, the example AME server(s) 114, 604 the example partner DP servers108, 304, the example browser 110, the example beacon requestre-director 120, the example cookie generator 122, the example partnerselector 124, the example beacon instruction generator 126, the examplecommunications interfaces 128, 132, the example cookie mapper 130and/or, more generally, the example systems 100, 300 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B,6B, 7B, and/or 8B may be implemented by hardware, software, firmwareand/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, forexample, any of the example web server 106, the example AME server(s)114, 604 the example partner DP servers 108, 304, the example browser110, the example beacon request re-director 120, the example cookiegenerator 122, the example partner selector 124, the example beaconinstruction generator 126, the example communications interfaces 128,132, the example cookie mapper 130 and/or, more generally, the examplesystems 100, 300 could be implemented by one or more analog or digitalcircuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s), applicationspecific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s)(PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). Whenreading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover apurely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one of theexample web server 106, the example AME server(s) 114, 604 the examplepartner DP servers 108, 304, the example browser 110, the example beaconrequest re-director 120, the example cookie generator 122, the examplepartner selector 124, the example beacon instruction generator 126, theexample communications interfaces 128, 132, and/or the example cookiemapper 130 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a tangiblecomputer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, adigital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc.storing the software and/or firmware. Further still, the example systems100, 300 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B may include one or moreelements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B, and/or may include morethan one of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes anddevices.

Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the systems 100, 300 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8Bare shown in FIGS. 9-13. In this example, the machine readableinstructions comprise programs for execution by a processor such as theprocessor 1412 shown in the example processor platform 1400 discussedbelow in connection with FIG. 14. The programs may be embodied insoftware stored on a tangible computer readable storage medium such as aCD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk (DVD), aBlu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processor 1412, but theentire programs and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed bya device other than the processor 1412 and/or embodied in firmware ordedicated hardware. Further, although the example programs are describedwith reference to the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 9-13, many othermethods of implementing the example systems 100, 300 may alternativelybe used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks may bechanged, and/or some of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated,or combined.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 9-13 may beimplemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory(ROM), a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a cache, arandom-access memory (RAM) and/or any other storage device or storagedisk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extendedtime periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarilybuffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, theterm tangible computer readable storage medium is expressly defined toinclude any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage diskand to exclude propagating signals. As used herein, “tangible computerreadable storage medium” and “tangible machine readable storage medium”are used interchangeably. Additionally or alternatively, the exampleprocesses of FIGS. 9-13 may be implemented using coded instructions(e.g., computer and/or machine readable instructions) stored on anon-transitory computer and/or machine readable medium such as a harddisk drive, a flash memory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, adigital versatile disk, a cache, a random-access memory and/or any otherstorage device or storage disk in which information is stored for anyduration (e.g., for extended time periods, permanently, for briefinstances, for temporarily buffering, and/or for caching of theinformation). As used herein, the term non-transitory computer readablemedium is expressly defined to include any type of computer readabledevice or disk and to exclude propagating signals. As used herein, whenthe phrase “at least” is used as the transition term in a preamble of aclaim, it is open-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” isopen ended.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 900 that may be executed to implement the example browser110 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to implement mapping of an AMEcookie to partner DP cookies for the browser.

The example browser 110 of FIG. 1 sends a request for a web page (e.g.,to a partner DP and/or to another web page publisher) (block 902). Theexample browser 110 receives web page code including beacon instructions(e.g., a tag provided by the AME) (block 904). The example browser 110executes the beacon instructions (block 906) and generates a beaconrequest from the beacon instructions (block 908).

The example browser 110 determines whether a cookie for the AME domainis stored (block 910). For example, the AME may have caused the browser110 to previously store a cookie for the AME domain. If a cookie for theAME domain is stored (block 910), the example browser 110 adds the AMEcookie to the beacon request (block 912). After adding the AME cookie tothe beacon request (block 912), or if there is no cookie stored for theAME domain (block 910), the example browser 110 sends the beacon requestto the AME server 114 (block 914). Example methods and apparatus forperforming any of blocks 902-914 are described in U.S. Pat. No.8,370,489, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference as thoughfully set forth herein.

The example browser 110 determines whether a response has been received(block 916). If a response has not been received (block 916), theexample browser 110 determines whether a response timeout (e.g., awatchdog timer) has lapsed (block 917). For example, when the browser110 provides an AME cookie in the beacon request, and the AME server 114determines that the AME cookie is mapped to a partner DP cookie, theexample AME server 114 may log the impression and omit transmission of aresponse to the browser 110. By not responding, the example AME server114 and browser 110 may reduce the amount of network traffic and/orreduce an amount of data being sent to the partner DPs. If the responsetimeout has not occurred (block 917), control loops to block 916 tocontinue waiting for a response to the beacon request. In some examples,a timer is used at block 916 to prevent hanging up in an infinite loop.In such examples, if no response is received within a time out period,control jumps out of block 916 to end the instructions of FIG. 9.

When a response is received (block 916), the example browser 110determines whether the response is a re-direct message (e.g., a 302FOUND message) (block 918). If the response is a re-direct message(block 918), the example browser 110 generates a partner DP request fromthe re-direct instructions (block 920). For example, the partner DPrequest may include a URL of a partner DP server specified in there-direct message.

The example browser 110 determines whether a cookie for the partner DPdomain specified in the re-direct is stored (block 922). For example,the partner DP may have caused the browser 110 to previously store acookie for the partner DP domain. If there is a cookie for the partnerDP domain stored (block 922), the example browser adds the partner DPcookie to the partner DP request (block 924). After adding the partnerDP cookie (block 924), or if no partner DP cookie is stored (block 922),the example browser 110 sends the partner DP request to the partner DPserver 108 (block 926). After sending the partner DP request to thepartner DP server (block 926), if the response from the AME server 114is not a re-direct (e.g., is a placeholder image such as a 1×1transparent pixel) (block 918), or if a response timeout occurs (block917), the example instructions 900 end.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 1000 that may be executed to implement the example AMEserver 114 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to initiate mapping of anAME cookie to partner DP cookies.

The example AME server 114 of FIG. 1 receives a beacon request from abrowser (e.g., the browser 110 of FIG. 1) (block 1002). The example AMEserver 114 determine whether the beacon request includes an AME cookie(block 1004). If the beacon request does not include an AME cookie(block 1004), the example AME server 114 generates an AME cookie for thebrowser (block 1006). For example, the AME cookie enables the AME serverto track the online activity of the browser in AME-tagged web pages. Ifthe beacon request includes an AME cookie (block 1004), the example AMEserver 114 determines whether the AME cookie is already mapped to apartner DP cookie (block 1008). For example, the AME server 114 maydetermine whether the AME cookie is mapped to a cookie of one or morepartner DPs. If the AME cookie is mapped to a partner DP cookie (block1008), the example AME server 114 determines whether an additionalmapping is desired (block 1009). For example, while the AME server 114may have a mapping between the AME cookie and a first partner DP cookie,it may be desirable to map the AME cookie to second (or more) partner DPcookies from other partner DPs to improve the quality of demographicinformation applied to the impression data.

If a mapping of the AME cookie to a partner DP cookie (e.g., a firstpartner DP cookie and/or an additional partner DP cookie) is desired(blocks 1008, 1009), or after generating the AME cookie (block 1006),the example AME server 114 generates a re-direct response (block 1010).The example AME server 114 includes an identifier of the AME cookie(e.g., the generated or previously-stored cookie) and an address (e.g.,a URL) of a partner DP to be contacted in the re-direct response (block1012). The example AME server 114 sends the re-direct response (e.g.,including the AME cookie identifier and the partner DP address) to thebrowser 110 (block 1014). In some examples, blocks 1002-1014 represent aprocess and blocks 1016-1030 represent a separate process executing inparallel. In such examples, the first process ends after block 1014.

Returning to the example of FIG. 10, the example AME server 114determines whether an AME cookie to partner DP cookie mapping has beenreceived (block 1016). The example AME server 114 may wait for a timeperiod between blocks 1014 and 1016 (e.g., to allow the browser 110 tosend the request to the partner DP server 108). If an AME cookie topartner DP cookie mapping is received (block 1016), the example AMEserver 114 logs the AME cookie to partner DP cookie mapping (block1018). For example, the mapping may include the AME cookie identifierand a corresponding partner DP cookie identifier.

In some examples, blocks 1016 and 1018 constitute a thread that may beexecuted as a separate process to receive and/or store mappings betweenAME cookies and partner DP cookies. For example, the AME server 114 mayre-direct browsers to partner DP servers 108, 304. The partner DPservers 108, 304 determine the associations between the AME cookies andthe partner DP cookies and, instead of immediately transmitting themappings to the AME server 114 (e.g., directly or via the browser 110),the example partner DP servers 108, 304 process and/or transmit themappings as a batch (e.g., multiple messages, multiple mappings in afile, etc.).

Returning to the example of FIG. 10, after logging the cookie mapping(block 1018), or if no cookie mapping is received (block 1016), theexample AME server 114 determines whether to request a mapping from anadditional partner DP (block 1020). For example, the browser 110 mayselect multiple beacon requests based on the tagging instructions toenable the AME server 114 to re-direct requests to multiple partner DPs.If the AME server 114 is to request mapping from an additional partnerDP (block 1020), the example AME server 114 generates a re-directresponse (block 1022). The example AME server 114 includes an AME cookie(e.g., the generated or received AME cookie) in the re-direct response(block 1024). The example AME server 114 sends the re-direct request tothe browser 110 (block 1026).

In some examples in which the AME server 114 is to request mappings fromadditional (e.g., multiple) partner DPs (block 1020), the example AMEserver 114 may issue multiple re-direct responses to the browser 110simultaneously in response to the beacon request.

Returning to the example of FIG. 10, the example AME server 114 storesthe AME cookie for subsequent matching to partner DP data (e.g., viaperiodic transmission of partner DP OCR and/or demographic information)(block 1028).

After storing the AME cookie (block 1028), if the AME server 114 is notto request mapping from an additional partner DP (block 1020), or ifcookie mappings to additional partner DPs are not desired (block 1009),the example instructions 1000 of FIG. 10 end.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 1100 that may be executed to implement the example AMEserver 114 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to associate demographicsobtained from a partner DP with online activity monitoring information(e.g., impression data and/or exposure data).

The example AME server 114 obtains an AME cookie to partner DP cookiemapping (block 1102). For example, the AME server 114 may receive aperiodic or aperiodic report including mappings of AME cookies topartner DP cookies from the partner DP server 108 of FIG. 1.Additionally or alternatively, the example AME server 114 may receivemessages (e.g., HTTP messages) from partner DP servers 108, 304 (e.g.,directly or via the browser 110) that include the AME cookie to partnerDP cookie mappings. The example AME server 114 obtains demographicinformation corresponding to the partner DP cookie(s) (block 1104).

The example AME server 114 selects an AME cookie to partner DP cookiemapping (block 1106). The example AME server 114 determines whether thepartner DP cookie in the selected mapping is mapped to additional AMEcookies (e.g., AME cookies other than the AME cookie in the selectedmapping) (block 1108). For example, multiple AME cookies may be providedto the browser 110 that is associated with one user, who is in turnassociated with one partner DP cookie. As the AME cookies expire or getdeleted by the browser 110, additional AME cookies are provided to thebrowser 110 and may be mapped to the same partner DP cookie. The exampleAME server 114 may then correlate the impressions for the user bymerging impression data for multiple AME cookies that are mapped to asame partner DP cookie. If the partner DP cookie is mapped to additionalAME cookies (block 1108), the example AME server merges the mappings ofAME cookie(s) corresponding to the partner DP cookie (block 1110). Bymerging the mappings, the example AME server 114 can merge theactivities (e.g., impressions) of the user associated with the browser.

After merging the mappings (block 1110) or if the partner DP cookie isnot mapped to additional AME cookies (block 1108), the example AMEserver 114 determines whether the AME cookie(s) (e.g., the AME cookie ofthe selected mapping and/or the merged AME cookie(s)) are mapped toadditional partner DP cookie(s) (block 1112). For example, the AMEserver 114 may request and receive mappings from multiple partner DPservers 108, 304 for a single AME cookie as described above. If the AMEcookie(s) are mapped to additional partner DP cookie(s) (block 1112),the example AME server 114 merges the mappings of the additional partnerDP cookies to the AME cookie(s) (block 1114).

After merging the mappings (block 1114), or if there are no additionalpartner DP cookies mapped to the AME cookies (block 1112), the exampleAME server 114 determines whether there are additional mappings to beconsidered for merging (block 1116). If there are additional mappings(block 1116), control returns to block 1106 to select another AME cookieto partner DP cookie mapping.

When there are no additional mappings (block 1116), the example AMEserver 114 associates online activity (e.g., impression data) measuredwith the AME cookies to received demographic information correspondingto partner DP cookies (e.g., based on the merged or unmerged mappings ofthe AME cookies to the partner DP cookies) (block 1118). For example,the AME server 114 may match the impression data measured in associatedwith an AME cookie with the demographic data received in associationwith a partner DP cookie by determining the mapping of the AME cookie tothe partner DP cookie. The example AME server 114 associates with theAME cookie any additional online activity that was measured by thepartner DP using the partner DP cookie (block 1120). As a result, theexample AME server 114 aggregates the online activity (if any) measuredby the AME with online activity measured by the partner DP that was notmeasured by the AME, which is further associated with demographicinformation provided by the partner DP that was not previously availableto the AME. The example instructions 1100 then end.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 1200 that may be executed to implement the example partnerDP servers 108, 304 of FIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B to map an AMEcookie to a partner DP cookie. For clarity, the example instructions1200 of FIG. 12 are described below with reference to the examplepartner DP server 108.

The example partner DP server 108 of FIG. 1 receives a request from abrowser (e.g., the browser 110 of FIG. 1) (block 1202). The examplepartner DP server 108 determines whether the request includes a partnerDP cookie (block 1204). For example, if a user of the browser 110 hadpreviously set up an account or otherwise provided information to thepartner DP, the example partner DP may have stored a cookie on acomputer executing the browser 110.

If the request includes a partner DP cookie (block 1204), the examplepartner DP server 108 reads the partner DP cookie data (block 1206). Forexample, the partner DP server 108 may determine a user identifier orother identifying information from the partner DP cookie data. Theexample partner DP server 108 then identifies the user registered withthe partner DP based on the cookie (block 1208).

The example partner DP server 108 generates a mapping response (block1210). The partner DP server 108 includes an AME cookie to partner DPcookie mapping in the mapping response (block 1212). For example, thepartner DP server 108 may include a URL including the domain of the AMEserver 114, an identifier of the AME cookie, and an identifier of thepartner DP cookie mapped to the AME cookie in the mapping response. Theexample partner DP server 108 determines whether to include demographicinformation corresponding to the partner DP cookie in the mapping (block1214). For example, the partner DP server 108 may provide thedemographic information with the mapping and/or may provide demographicinformation to the AME 102 on a periodic basis.

If the partner DP server 108 is not to include demographic informationin the mapping (block 1214), the example partner DP server 108 sends amapping response to the AME server 114 or to the browser 110 (block1216). For example, the partner DP server 108 may send an asynchronousHTTP request to the AME server 114 and/or send a re-direct response tothe browser 110 to cause the browser to send a request to the AME server114. The example partner DP server 108 periodically sends data includingthe AME cookie, the partner DP cookie, and demographic information tothe AME server 114 (block 1218). However, the partner DP server 108 mayadditionally or alternative send the data to the AME server 114 ataperiodic or other intervals. If the partner DP server 108 is to includethe demographic information (block 1214), the example partner DP server108 sends a mapping response including demographic information to theAME server 114 or to the browser 110 (block 1220).

After sending the mapping response including the demographic information(block 1220) or after sending the mapping response and sending thedemographic data separately (blocks 1216 and 1218), the exampleinstructions of FIG. 12 end.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart representative of example machine readableinstructions 1300 which may be executed to implement the example beaconinstruction generator 126 of FIG. 1 to generate beacon instructions(e.g., tags) to be served by a web server (e.g., the web server 106 ofFIG. 1) to tag media (e.g., an advertisement, a web page, etc.).

The example beacon instruction generator 126 of FIG. 1 receives web siteand/or web server information (e.g., address information, informationdescribing the web sites served by the web server 106 of FIG. 1) (block1302). The example beacon instruction generator 126 generates beaconinstruction(s) for the web site and/or the web server (block 1304). Insome examples, the beacon instruction generator 126 generates a templateinstruction for a web site and/or web site element (e.g., for an entireweb site, for an advertisement or other media that is part of a website, etc.). The example beacon instruction generated by the beaconinstruction generator 126 causes a browser or other client device thatreceives the beacon instruction to initiate beacon requests tofacilitate impression measurement and/or a process that results inmapping an AME cookie to one or more partner DP cookies as disclosedherein.

The example beacon instruction generator 126 determines whether thebeacon instruction includes modifiable (e.g., customizable) data (block1306). Example modifiable data may be include in the beacon instructionto customize the beacon instruction for a web site, a web server, an adcampaign, or other purpose. Example information that may be configuredas unmodifiable includes an address of the AME server 114 to which thebeacon instruction is to initiate a communication. If there ismodifiable information in the beacon instruction (block 1306), theexample beacon instruction generator 126 modifies the modifiable beaconinstruction data based on the web site and/or web server information(block 1308).

In some examples, the beacon instruction includes data that ismodifiable by the web server 106 based on the web page being served tothe browser 110. For example, the beacon instruction may providedifferent data to the example browser 110 depending on the identity ofthe user of the browser 110 and/or a timestamp of sending the beaconinstruction.

After modifying the beacon instruction data (block 1308), or if thebeacon instruction is not modifiable (block 1306), the example beaconinstruction generator 126 provides the beacon instruction to the webserver 106 for inclusion in media (block 1310). For example, the beaconinstruction generator 126 may transmit the beacon instruction to the webserver 106 via a communications interface and/or provide the instructionto a developer or administrator of the web site for inclusion in thescript and/or code of the web server 106. The example instructions 1300then end and/or iterate to generate additional beacon instructions forthe web server 106 or additional web servers.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1400 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 9-13 to implement the example AMEserver(s) 114, the example partner DP servers 108, 304, the examplebrowser 110 and/or, more generally, the example systems 100, 300 ofFIGS. 1-4, 5B, 6B, 7B, and/or 8B. The processor platform 1400 can be,for example, a server, a personal computer, or any other type ofcomputing device.

The processor platform 1400 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1412. The processor 1412 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1412 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllersfrom any desired family or manufacturer.

The processor 1412 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1413 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1412 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1414 anda non-volatile memory 1416 via a bus 1418. The volatile memory 1414 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory(RDRAM) and/or any other type of random access memory device. Thenon-volatile memory 1416 may be implemented by flash memory and/or anyother desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1414,1416 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1400 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1420. The interface circuit 1420 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a PCI express interface, and/or any othercommunications interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1422 are connectedto the interface circuit 1420. The input device(s) 1422 permit(s) a userto enter data and commands into the processor 1412. The input device(s)can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, a microphone, acamera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, a touchscreen, atrack-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1424 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1420 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1424 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactileoutput device, a light emitting diode (LED), a printer and/or speakers).The interface circuit 1420 of the illustrated example, thus, typicallyincludes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chip or a graphicsdriver processor.

The interface circuit 1420 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network1426 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 1400 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1428 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1428 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and digital versatile disk (DVD) drives.

The coded instructions 1432 of FIGS. 9-13 may be stored in the massstorage device 1428, in the volatile memory 1414, in the non-volatilememory 1416, and/or on a removable tangible computer readable storagemedium such as a CD or DVD.

Example methods and apparatus disclosed herein provide demographicinformation to audience measurement entities for larger numbers ofonline users than were previously available to audience measuremententities. Example methods and apparatus disclosed herein reduce theuncertainty associated with the use of statistical methods by increasingthe amounts of collected data, while maintaining privacy for individualusers. Example methods and apparatus disclosed herein reduce a number ofre-directs needed to database proprietors during the life or validity ofthe associated cookies. By reducing the number of re-directs, examplemethods and apparatus disclosed herein reduce interruptions,interference, and/or background processing that can negatively affectperformance of client browsers, thus, improving an overall userexperience for audience members. Example methods and apparatus improveoverall efficiencies of networking environments by reducing networkcongestion and delay associated with collecting matching exposureinformation to demographic information.

It is noted that this patent claims priority from Australian PatentApplication Serial Number 2013204865, which was filed on Apr. 12, 2013,and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

1. A method, comprising: sending a response to a request, the responseincluding an identification of a first cookie used by an audiencemeasurement entity and an indication of a database proprietor; andreceiving a mapping of the first cookie to a second cookie used by thedatabase proprietor and demographic information associated with thesecond cookie by the database proprietor.
 2. A method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the mapping and the demographic information arereceived in an asynchronous communication from the database proprietor.3. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein the response comprises are-direct message, the re-direct message to cause a client device tosend a request to the database proprietor.
 4. A method as defined inclaim 1, wherein the mapping is received at a first time and thedemographic information is received at a second time after the firsttime.
 5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising selectingthe database proprietor from a list of database proprietors based on aweb site from which the request originated.
 6. A method as defined inclaim 5, wherein selecting the database proprietor comprises determininga quality of demographic information provided by the database proprietorfor an expected demographic group associated with the web site.
 7. Amethod as defined in claim 1, further comprising determining whether therequest includes the first cookie and, when the request does not includethe first cookie, generating the first cookie.
 8. An apparatus,comprising: a re-director to send a response to a request, the responseincluding an identification of a first cookie used by an audiencemeasurement entity and an indication of a database proprietor; and acommunication interface to receive a mapping of the first cookie to asecond cookie used by the database proprietor and demographicinformation associated with the second cookie by the databaseproprietor.
 9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein thecommunication interface is to receive the mapping and the demographicinformation in an asynchronous communication from the databaseproprietor.
 10. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, wherein the responsecomprises a re-direct message, the re-direct message to cause a clientdevice to send a request to the database proprietor.
 11. An apparatus asdefined in claim 8, wherein the communication interface is to receivethe mapping at a first time and receive the demographic information at asecond time after the first time.
 12. An apparatus as defined in claim8, further comprising a partner selector to select the databaseproprietor from a list of database proprietors based on a web site fromwhich the request originated.
 13. An apparatus as defined in claim 12,wherein the partner selector is to select the database proprietorcomprises determining a quality of demographic information provided bythe database proprietor for an expected demographic group associatedwith the web site.
 14. An apparatus as defined in claim 8, furthercomprising a cookie generator, the re-director to determine whether therequest includes the first cookie and, when the request does not includethe first cookie, the cookie generator to generate the first cookie. 15.A computer readable storage medium comprising computer readableinstructions which, when executed, cause a processor to at least: send aresponse to a request, the response including an identification of afirst cookie used by an audience measurement entity and an indication ofa database proprietor; and store a mapping of the first cookie to asecond cookie used by the database proprietor and received from thedatabase proprietor and to store demographic information associated withthe second cookie and received from the database proprietor.
 16. Astorage medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the mapping and thedemographic information are received in an asynchronous communicationfrom the database proprietor.
 17. A storage medium as defined in claim15, wherein the response comprises a re-direct message, the re-directmessage to cause a client device to send a request to the databaseproprietor.
 18. A storage medium as defined in claim 15, wherein themapping is received at a first time and the demographic information isreceived at a second time after the first time.
 19. A storage medium asdefined in claim 15, wherein the instructions are further to cause theprocessor to select the database proprietor from a list of databaseproprietors based on a web site from which the request originated.
 20. Astorage medium as defined in claim 19, wherein the instructions are tocause the processor to select the database proprietor by determining aquality of demographic information provided by the database proprietorfor an expected demographic group associated with the web site.
 21. Astorage medium as defined in claim 15, wherein the instructions arefurther to cause the processor to determine whether the request includesthe first cookie and, when the request does not include the firstcookie, generate the first cookie. 22-74. (canceled)